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Charleston City Council

Staff Pick

The Holy City has always been run through a strong-mayor system, which gives the city’s chief executive lots of sway over priorities on council. Under former Mayor Joe Riley, that power combined with even stronger sway within the community meant that if Riley didn’t want it, it probably wasn’t going to happen. Well, that power is all but gone now for Mayor John Tecklenburg, who presides over a divided council that’s shown an aversion to inserting themselves into downtown development in a city that was meticulously micromanaged for four decades under Riley. It’s unclear whether Tecklenburg has yet to get his footing or if there’s just not much of a desire for consensus on council right now. —Sam Spence